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Erica York Tax Foundation
Expert

Erica York

Senior Economist, Research Director

Erica York is Senior Economist and Research Director with Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy. She previously worked as an auditor at a large community bank in Kansas and interned at Tax Foundation’s Center for State Tax Policy.

Her analysis has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, and other national and international media outlets. She holds a master’s degree in Economics from Wichita State University and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Economics from Sterling (KS) College, where she is currently an adjunct professor. Erica lives in Kansas with her husband and their two children.

Latest Work

Neutral Cost Recovery for Structures Reform TCJA

Why Neutral Cost Recovery Matters

Allowing full deductibility of residential structures would mean more housing construction, particularly multifamily housing—a practical solution to address housing affordability challenges.

6 min read
Kamala Harris unrealized capital gains tax proposal billionaire minimum tax

Analysis of Harris’s Billionaire Minimum Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains

In her campaign for president, VP Kamala Harris has embraced all the tax increases President Biden proposed in the White House FY 2025 budget—including a new idea that would require taxpayers with net wealth above $100 million to pay a minimum tax on their unrealized capital gains from assets such as stocks, bonds, or privately held companies.

5 min read
How do import tariffs affect exports

How Do Import Tariffs Affect Exports?

When the government imposes a tariff, it may be trading jobs and production in one part of the economy for jobs in another part of the economy by increasing production costs for downstream industries.

6 min read
Trump Harris corporate tax proposals US corporate tax rate 2024 election impact on US corporate income tax policy

The Corporate Tax Rate Tug-of-War

Depending on the 2024 US election, the current corporate tax rate of 21 percent could be in for a change. See the modeling here.

4 min read
Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Taxes?

Where Does Kamala Harris Stand on Taxes?

While both President Biden and Vice President Harris aim their proposed tax hikes on businesses and high earners, key differences between their tax ideas in the past reveal where Harris may take her tax policy platform in the 2024 campaign.

6 min read
Placing Biden Tax Proposals and Trump Tax Proposals in Historical Context Largest Tax Increase and Largest Tax Hike in History and Largest Tax Decrease and Largest Tax Cut in History

Placing Biden and Trump Tax Proposals in Historical Context

From President Biden calling the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act the “largest tax cut in American history,” to former President Trump claiming that Biden “wants to raise your taxes by four times,” the campaign rhetoric on taxes may be sparking some confusion.

5 min read
Inflation Reduction Act book minimum tax 5G competition china

How Does the IRA’s Book Minimum Tax Affect 5G Competition?

A higher tax burden for private infrastructure investments like wireless spectrum, 5G technology, and machinery and equipment makes an existing problem worse—especially against the backdrop of outright state subsidies in countries like China.

6 min read

Tax Cuts vs. Tax Reform

Tax cuts vs. tax reform: what’s the real difference, and why does it matter?

Full TCJA extension fiscal challenges highlighted by latest CBO projections

Latest CBO Projections Highlight Fiscal Challenge of Full TCJA Extension

While neither full expiration nor a deficit-financed full extension of the TCJA would be appropriate, lawmakers should consider the incentive effects of whichever tax reform they pursue. Because taxes affect the economy, they also affect the sustainability of debt reduction.

3 min read
Sources of personal income tax return data as of 2024 Tax Foundation

Sources of Personal Income, Tax Year 2021

Reviewing reported income helps to understand the composition of the federal government’s revenue base and how Americans earn their taxable income. The individual income tax, the federal government’s largest source of revenue, is largely a tax on labor.

9 min read
Biden tariffs and Trump tariffs tracking the economic impact of US imposed tariffs

Tracking the Economic Impact of the Trump Tariffs

The Trump administration imposed nearly $80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans by levying tariffs on thousands of products in 2018 and 2019, amounting to one of the largest tax increases in decades. The Biden administration has kept most of the Trump administration tariffs in place

19 min read
Donald Trump tax proposals regarding replacing the income tax with tariffs, exempting taxes on tips, and corporate income tax cut

Trump Floats Replacing Income Tax with Tariffs

Former President Trump floated the possibility of entirely replacing the federal income tax with new tariffs. He also raised other ideas like eliminating taxes on tipped income and lowering the corporate tax rate by one percentage point.

8 min read
Trump Biden tariffs tango the Deduction podcast why are tariffs so popular

Trump and Biden’s Tariff Tango

Tariffs are a hot topic this election cycle for both President Biden and former President Trump. But why are tariffs so popular despite their economic downsides?